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ORIGINAL GRANTS, AND FARMS
95
(see Teunis Somarindyke farm). In a deed of that lot, Brandt
Schuyler is recited as the owner of lot 8, No other evidence
of Schuyler's ownership has been found.
From an entry in the Minutes of the Common Councilit may
be inferred that lots 8, 9, and 10 had reverted to the govern¬
ment, and then passed to the city by the Dongan Charter of
1686, Tunis Eides had acquired land here adjoining the Bed-
low patent. As lot i, and ^ of lot 2, on the Berrian Map of
his farm, he conveyed it to his son-in-law, Marinus Roelofse
van Vleckeren, in June, 1720,—Riker, Hist, of Harlem, 522
note, 75 acres more or less.
1711, Sept. 7, "The Petition of Marinus Roelefse was read
praying A Grant or A Lease of A Tract of Land belonging to
this Corporation lying near the Land of Teunis Idese on this
Island Containing one hundred & fifty Acres or thereabouts."
A committee was appointed to inquire into the matter and
report.—M. C. C, II: 447.
The records reveal nothing further, as is often the case.
There is no deed of record either in the office of the comp¬
troller or the register conveying land here to Marinus Roelof-
sen. In the deed to Charles Ward Apthorp of the farm on the
north, that south boundary is called " land formeriy of Marinus
Roeloifsse, now of Oliver De Lancey, Esq."
If it be assumed that Stephen De Lancey bought the three
hundred acres from Roelofsen, the date of the purchase was
later than June 1720, when Teunis Eides divided his property
between his children.
By November 4, I72g, "the estate of Mr. Stephen De
Lancey," with his "Country House at Bloomendall," is noted
(Chronology). May 8, 1732, an advertisement of the De Key
property described it as "near to the Seat of Mr. De Lancey,
called Bloomendal."—Ibid.
Stephen De Lancey died in 174I. His will dated March 4,
1735; proved Nov, 24,1741 {Liber Wills,XlV: gi,New York)
does not mention the farms of Bloomingdale or Little Bloom¬
ingdale. Oliver De Lancey bought Bloomingdale from the
other heirs and devisees before the partition of 1747.
Between 1749 and 1752 De Lancey had several disputes
with the Corporation because of his encroachments upon the
Commons. He agreed to purchase such land, and deeds were
to be drawn up and delivered to him. They have not been
found of record. See M. C. C, V; 250, 287, 333, 337, 354.
In 1763 he conveyed the southerly part of the farm to
Charles Ward Apthorp by the two following deeds.
Oliver de Lancey and Phila, his wife, to Charles Ward
Apthorpe. Deed dated May 11, 1763.—Liber Deeds, LVII:
245 (New York). Cons. £4600.
Conveys "All that certain Messuage or dwelling house
and tract of Land ... on the east side of Hudsons River
at a place commonly called Bloomendall."
Oliver de Lancey and wife to Charles Ward Apthorp.
Deed dated June 12, IJ63.—Liber Deeds, CCIX: 259 (New
York). Cons. £450.
Both deeds recite: "Part of a larger tract which the said
Ofiver Delancey purchased in fee from the Executors, Heirs
and Devisees of Stephen Delancey the elder, dec'^, or some
of them."
The descriptions are long, evidently drawn from an accurate
survey, though no surveyor's name is given. As protracted
to the scale of the Randel Map, they are found to be contiguous
and to agree with the Randel survey, 153 acres more or less.
As Charles Ward Apthorp already owned the large farm
to the north of De Lancey, on which there was a good house,
it is useless to conjecture which house he occupied. However,
he chose the upper farm for a country seat, built there the
Apthorp mansion in 1764, and sold the old house to Gerrit
Striker, The house on the De Lancey farm he sold to his
brother-in-law, James McEvers.
Charles Ward Apthorp to James McEvers, Deed dated
Oct. 30, jjSy.-Liber Deeds, CCXXVIII: 88, Cons, £2835
15 s.
Conveys land at Bloomingdale bounded east by the Kings
bridge Road or Highway; north by land of John Van Cort¬
landt; west by Hudson River, and south by land of Teunis
Somarindyke. 45 acres, i rod, 4 perches, more or less,
McEvers lived less than a year at Bloomlngdale. The N. Y.
Gazette, Monday, Sept. 12, 1768, contained a notice of his
death:
"Thursday last departed this Life, after a long and painful
Sickness, James MeEvers, Esq; in the 42d Year of his
Age."
In his will, dated Aug. 12, 1768, he gives his wife her choice
between his town house and his "country house and farm
purchased of Charles Ward Apthorp."—Liber Wills, XXVI;
453 (New York).
No deed has been found out of the heirs of McEvers.
Undoubtedly the farm reverted to Apthorp. His daughter
Charlotte, born March 29, 1771, married John Cornelius
Vanden Heuvel, who is said to have built the mansion on the
west side of the road between 78th and 79th Streets in 1792,
The Apthorp Apartments were erected on the site.—
L.M.R. K., Ill: 952.
As no deed has been found into Vanden Heuvel, the farm
may have been part of Charlotte Apthorp's dowry.
Charies Ward Apthorp sold the farm on the east side of the
road, opposite the McEvers parcel, to Major Robert Bayard.
Charles Ward Apthorp to Robert B.^yard. Deed dated
May II, iyy4-—Liber Deeds, CCIX; 261 (New York).
Conveys a parcel of land bounded northwest by the road,
southwest by the land of Somarindyck; southeast by other
land of Apthorp and land of Oliver De Lancey; northeast by
land of Oliver De Lancey, 53 acres, 28 perches.
There was no residence on the tract at this time. A fifty
acre parcel of woodl.ind remained In Charles Ward Apthorp
until his death. His younger daughter, Rebecca, inherited
this parcel.
Rebecca Apthorp to David Wagstaff. Deed dated
March 28, i%o6.—Liber Deeds, LXXV: 90 (New York).
Cons. ^5,476.
Conveys a tract of land bounded east by the Commons of
the city of New York; south by the land of Somarindyck;
west by land of Philip Kissick, and north by land of Joseph
Orchard. 3^ acres; 3 rods; 12 perches.
This parcel was estimated at ;o>^ acres in earlier deeds and
mortgages. S^ee Liber Mtges.,\V: 95; Liber Deeds, UVU; 248,
The residue of the Oliver De Lancey farm was estimated at
183?^ acres, after 153 acreshad been sold to Charles Ward
Apthorp, and 15 acres to John Van Corriandt, Stephen
De Lancey's original farm contained 300 acres. The addi¬
tional land must have been part of the Commons.
Oliver De Lancey sold 15 acres between the road and the
river to John Van Cortlandt, in July, 1764, adjoining the
farm he had recently conveyed to Charies Ward Apthorp,
In the same month. Van Cortlandt bought from Apthorp four
acres adjoining on the south. Deeds not found of record;
recited in Liber Deeds, XLII: 324. This twenty acre parcel
was north of the farm later sold to McEvers, Its further
history belongs with the Orchard purchase.
Oliver De Lancey built his own house near the river, at the
upper end of his farm. He had probably finished it before he
sold the old Stephen De Lancey house to Apthorp in 1763,
This new house was attacked by a party of Continental sol¬
diers on the night of Nov. 26,1777, plundered and set on fire.—
See Chronology for details.
The mansion seems to have been destroyed, but the farm
buildings were left standing. The following advi